Onslaught Conquers the Moon
Moon In the dusky twilight zone between the Moon's reflected light and the void of space, extended shadows from the rims of shallow craters and bleak, worn canyons crawl slowly across the lakes of ancient dust like dark claws retreating from the sun. All is still, as it should be in an airless environment, except for occasional, inexplicable vibrations that seem to come from the underlying basaltic rock of this region. Contents: Decepticon Shuttle Sweepcraft Geist Autobot Shuttle Chair From Decepticon Shuttle , The Decepticon shuttle Conquest II has been making it's way to Earth for an inspection tour by two of the senior Decepticon leaders: Shockwave and Onslaught. The shuttle flies low over the rounded steel domes that conceal the activities within from sight of prying eyes before touching down outside the regolith just outside the entrance to the base. Gumby Decepticons patrol the perimeter, both on the land and above it, but make no move as the shuttle makes it's landing approach and touches down. The hatch slides open and Onslaught emerges, studying the domes in front of him, before walking forward and turning toward the interior of the shuttle as he waits for the other Decepticons to exit the shuttle. From Decepticon Shuttle , Scrapper steps out of the Conquest II after Shockwave and Onslaught. For reasons best left unexplained, he has a Transformer sized whaling harpoon in his lime green hands. The Constructicon Commander tagged along with Onslaught and Shockwave in order to see just what the pair have been up to. As well, Scrapper needed a brief break from his round-the-clock efforts on the Decepticon Command Ship being built in secrecy. Lime green boots hit the lunar dust as his gaze sweeps the steel domes. "I'll say this, Onslaught, you have my curiosity piqued." Scrapper leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Scrapper has arrived. Shockwave leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Shockwave has arrived. Shockwave is here, look busy. Onslaught leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Onslaught has arrived. Sixshot leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Sixshot has arrived. From Autobot Shuttle , Red Alert is piloting the Golden Age, gosh darn it! He's doing so in response to reports from the humans that a Decepticon shuttle was spotted in the area, going into and/or out of a zone that the human sensors didn't reach. The idea of even /having/ an area within the solar system where the sensors didn't reach struck Red Alert as so absurd that he moved investigation of the affair up to top priority. Unfortunately, the only Autobot he could find in his hurry is the... the... /suspect,/ Nightbeat. The trip's been one of frosty silence so far, as Red Alert has been concentrating, outwardly, on the mission and nothing else. Still, someone as observant as Nightbeat would no doubt notice just how carefully /he's/ being watched as well. Shockwave's heavy footfall raises a silent cloud of dust on the airless desert of the moon. <> From Autobot Shuttle , Nightbeat has an electric ankle monitor around one of his ankles. There is a Sony Walkman attached to it, and Raindance may or may not still be inside. Either way, it's extremely embarrassing for the private eye. He needs to clear his name and fast. From where he is sprawled out in a chair in the back, he glares at the back of Red Alert's head. Nightbeat is a perfectly capable shuttle pilot! He has also not moved from that chair the whole time, though he has been tapping his fingers irregularly and incessantly. There's almost a pattern to the tapping, like Morse Code, but whenever it borders on being decipherable, there's an irregular beat that ruins the whole pattern. Onslaught turns to face the Constructicon leader, gesturing toward the tall curving steel domes in the near distance, before turning to fully face Scrapper. <> He turns to look over at Shockwave as the other disembarks and approaches. <> Battlecruiser is skimming along over the surface of the moon, rapidly circumnavigating the planetoid towards the Decepticon sighting. Is it a rare page of restraint in the Technobot leader's usually less subtle battlebook? -- Well no, actually he just happened to reached the moon on the other side and now has to take the long way around, making his approach just a bit harder to detect. The soundlessness of space helps too, as the vicious curses and taunts he's ranting out don't carry and makes his arrival unintentally a silent one. The Decepticon shuttle hadn't travelled without support, at its flank lingering not too far behind was the much smaller shape of a starfighter-- the hues and weapon of choice attached to each wing pointing out the identity. Sixshot had opted to fill in for sentinel duty, not having been back to the Earthen moon's surface since his last run in with the notorious Autobot bounty hunter, Defcon. Let's just say he wanted to forget that disastrous ending, infact the crater was on the other side of the landing site. Good. Instead of immeadtiately joining the rest, he hung back keeping to where the near non-existent atmosphwere blended in with the vaccuum of space. It had all the promise of being a job that any grunt could have handled, but then there was no predicting at times when things could get interesting. Idly he listened to the short wave radio conversation, absently checking his scanners now and then. From Autobot Shuttle , Red Alert just /knows/ that Nightbeat is doing that on purpose to annoy him. Nightbeat knows that Red Alert has enhanced senses. He also knows that Red Alert is a decryption specialist, and that it is therefore in his nature to look for patterns like the ones in the noises that Nightbeat is making. Therefore, Red Alert is /certain/ that Nightbeat is doing that intentionally to annoy him. Just because Red Alert's paranoid doesn't mean he's stupid. Finally, through gritted teeth, he hisses, "You can STOP. That now." Coming in behind the shuttle is a Sweepcraft. The curiosity has lured Sunder here to the Moon. And defending whatever the Combaticon Commander has here from the Autobots is definitely in the Sweep's interests. From Autobot Shuttle , Nightbeat replies lazily from where he sits in the shuttle, "I could," and the tapping pauses for around ten seconds. Then, the tapping resumes. "But I would think that you'd feel so much better knowing that my fingers are occupied. Idle hands and all." Really, Nightbeat just has Red Alert's best interests in mind. Why can't Red Alert see that Nightbeat has his back? "I've heard boasts like that before," Scrapper tells Onslaught, "Heck, I've /made/ boasts like that before. So lets get on in there so we can get the royal tour, huh?" he prods, rubbing his hands together. Despite his casual attitude, Scrapper is quite clearly eager to see just what Onslaught has cooked up in there. He's always trusted the Combaticon's judgement, and has rarely regretted it. Not being on picket duty, and not having much in the way of advanced scanners, he doesn't pick up the Autobot shuttle yet. From Autobot Shuttle , Blaster lies next to a station, just beneath the console. One long cord extends all the way from an optional socket in the console down to the socket marked with two ovals connected by a curve atop its boxy structure. It makes no sound, although the spool exposed by the clear window in its cassette door show something spinning. From Autobot Shuttle , It's Nightbeat as his back that has Red Alert worried! No, that's a lie. Red Alert's always worried, anyway. "Well, if you're going to /chatter/ away the whole trip, you could at least say something /useful/ instead of babbling incoherently," he snaps, referencing the non-codes that Nightbeat keeps tapping up. Then he straightens, reaches over, and turns on a screen next to him. "Or you could man the sensors. I think we're coming up on something." Scattershot says, "Almost there. Anybody wanna explain why I don't see any explosions...?" Shockwave glances at Scrapper rubbing his hands together eagerly. Shockwave cannot rub his hands together eagerly or otherwise. He clenches his sole hand and follows Onslaught, walking alongside the much shorter Scrapper. <> From Autobot Shuttle , Nightbeat drawls, "Oh, you'd trust me to man the sensors? I'm touched, Red Alert. I really am. Those wonderfully sensitive sensors that may be our only warning should we be attacked? Those ones?" Nightbeat grins rather wickedly and pops out of his chair. He saunters over to the sensors to man them, leaning over the console. And if Blaster have been recording all those stupid Morse Code taps Nightbeat's been making? Yeah, they're all nonsense. From Autobot Shuttle , "Your /reluctance/ to assist is /duly/ noted, Nightbeat," Red Alert sniffs. "However, I'm reaching a point where I can't man everything myself, which is why I'm not out here alone in the first place." Red Alert says, "I /think/ that we're just coming upon the site ourselves. I would know for /sure/ if Nightbeat showed any inclination to actually help." Nightbeat says, "And we'd have known ten minutes ago if I was flying this thing." Red Alert mutters, "Because we'd actually have someone /trustworthy/ on the sensors, no doubt." Onslaught turns around and begins to walk toward the entrance again as the other Decepticons follow him across the ground as Sunder and Sixshot continue their progress through the sky. He speaks first to Scrapper without turning his head as, at the facility entrance, the Gumby Decepticons snap to attention.<> He stops beside the right guard before presenting a thin silver of some kind of molecular plastic to the guard as he turns to look at Shockwave. > Nightbeat says, "Because I can multi-task, unlike some *cough*Lamborghinis*cough." Red Alert says, "How nice to know that you could have been helping all along, /despite/ that infernal tapping." Nightbeat says, "Like you would have let me." Steeltread says, "Such witty banter." From Autobot Shuttle , Boombox continues to quietly record. Just whatever is it recording? <> asks Shockwave. He has very little faith in Vortex's qualities. Red Alert says, "Guilty until proven innocent, Nightbeat. Surely /you/ understand such precautions." Nightbeat says, "Guilty until proven useful is more like it." From Autobot Shuttle , Nightbeat protests, all innocence, "You know I just want to see the job done right, right? If that means taking a step back and letting someone more qualified attend to the task, I'm man enough to say that this just isn't my bag." His fingers dance over the sensors, and up on some of the shuttle's screen, they have video! Several large steel domes and Decepticon guards around both on the ground and in the air pop up. "Well I'm eager to see your carefully arranged plans that cover all possible events," Scrapper replies to Onslaught. The Constructicon follows along with him and Shockwave, using the whaling harpoon as a makeshift walking stick. He waits patiently while the Combaticon takes care of the security arrangements. The standard Decepticon security of measure of just asking whether or not an intruder is Autobot or Decepticon is apparently not good enough for here, Scrapper muses. Well la dee da, aren't we fancy. Scattershot sounds mildly impressed. "Wow...looks like the Decepticons have an entire facility here. Wonder how long they've been working on this thing." His voice turns hard. "Too long. Let's take it out." Red Alert says, "NIGHTBEAT! Why haven't you reported that facility yet?!" Battlecruiser blasts (silently) into sight from over the horizon, then immediately angles himself to head straight at the Decepticon base. When he's still well short of the perimeter, he fires his retro-rockets, coming to a virtual stop, then begins transforming into a large, ridiculous (and disturbingly suggestive) form that looks like a cross between a battlestation and his own lower body. Scattershot transforms into battlestation mode. Cosmos says, "Sorry guys, I guess I didn't notice it! I've been out in deep space keeping an eye on all the other stars and planets." Nightbeat says, "Because I assume that your optical sensors work." Nightbeat says, "So the Decepticons have some domes on the moon. Did you *hear* that?" Red Alert says very slowly, ennunciating carefully, "Yes, Nightbeat, I did. Now, are you going to arm the weapons systems, are are you /assuming/ I will?" Nightbeat says, "You'd trust me with shuttle grade weaponry?" Kingfisher Swoop says, "Me love when carbots fight." Nightbeat says, "Oh, this isn't fighting Swoop! This is just normal operating procedure." Red Alert says, "All right, I guess I have my answer!" Nightbeat says, "Careful with that thinking business, Red Alert. You may find it addictive." From Autobot Shuttle , "Shoot!" the Boombox suddenly transmits with a puff of its nylon stereo-pads. "With all the clamoring you two throw on the broadband, you might as well just /let/ them know we're coming!" The Boombox launches into the air and transforms into Blaster, who promptly puts his hands against the console and leans in to stare at the Decepticon structures. His lips purse together in a long, low-key whistle. "Haven't heard anything on their frequencies, Autopals. No clue what kind of bad rhythm Team Evil is draftin' up -- but heck, you two argue like you've been joined at the reactor linkages!" Most Decepticons don't even ask, hence the success of rubsigns. Shockwave is about to remind Onslaught about the danger of rubsigns when his long-range sensors pick up something incoming. <> He swivels at the waist and raises his arm to follow his eye towards the suspect Technobots (not that he knows they're Technobots yet). From Autobot Shuttle , Red Alert guides the shuttle in as low as he dare, to minimize radar distance. Because the moon is so much smaller a surface than the Earth, radars at low altitudes shouldn't work as far. That assumes normal, real world physics, however. This is Transformers. At Blaster's chastising, however, Red Alert looks suitably embarrassed. "Erm, you are, of course, correct about the miss-use of the frequencies. My apologies." He powers up the weapon systems and announces, "Preparing for an attack run," tone suddeenly more professional. From Autobot Shuttle , Nightbeat suddenly whirls around and fixes that glare he's been saving for Red Alert on Blaster instead, and he points out, "I'm sure Red Alert would have let me know in a memo retroactive to yesterday if I was talking too much on an unsecure channel." He does flip some switches to key up the weapons, but he'll let Red Alert have the 'fun' of firing. <> Sweepcraft warns. <> From Autobot Shuttle , Strafe is twitching in the back. He's pacing and is in no condition to man any controls, weapons or otherwise. Right now he's checking over his two heat carbines over and over again. "Oh man, I can't wait to get into battle. The air is so THICK with excitement, I can hardly stand it!" he says sounding more wound up than normal. The Decepticon guards turn to look toward Shockwave as they pick up his radio signal as Onslaught, his finger raised, turns to face Scrapper apparently to remind him that he said he can't predict everything even though he is quite cool. At Shockwave's transmission reaches him, however, he turns to look upward in the indicated direction before he turns to face the guard again. "Lock down the facility...prepare for enemy incursion immediately." As the Gumby runs off Onslaught leaves the entrance and starts to broadcast toward the aerial units on station including Sixshot and Sunder. "Prepare to engage...when you fire, aim to bring them down. We need to find out how they discovered us.>> From Autobot Shuttle , Afterburner chuckles at Strafe as he looks out the front of the shuttle. "You'll get your shots in Strafe. You'll notice Scattershot's out there too.....so we'll have plenty to blast around." He says watching Strafe pace. "I'd say calm down......but I know better." <> replies Shockwave, moving to take cover and laying down a suppressing fire towards the incoming spacecraft. <> He pauses a moment. << I am also detecting an unidentified shuttlecraft incoming on bearing 204. >> From Autobot Shuttle , "Whoa," Blaster blinks at Nightbeat. He holds up a hand, trying to block the Detective's glare. "Bottle that up and put that somewh---" The words are cut off by a sudden raise of Blaster's optics. He raises his other hand, placing his fingertips against the side of his helmet where his 'ear' would be. "Uh... Red!" He says, his voice alarmed. "They're onto us! I just heard Onslaught and a Sweep! They've got an attack run heading right for us!" Blaster takes in a breath and glances to the side, looking put-off. "... things're about to get interesting and I left my copy of Eric Clapton, Unplugged back at the Autobase!" Blaster blinks once more. He tilts his head up and rotates it back to look at Nightbeat. "Er," he coughs, realizing he still has his hand up to Nightbeat. "Sorry, 'Beat." He lowers his hand. From Autobot Shuttle , Strafe laughs and points a heat carbine at Afterburner instead of a finger, "You got that right Burner. I'm really to shoot cons. Shoot, mangle, rend, and turn them into scrap metal! Mahahahahahaa!" He does a few quick steps over to the hall towards the bridge and bangs on the plating so those in the front on the bridge, "Hey, when are you clogs up there going to open the door. I'm getting twitchy back here!" "Incoming craft?" Scrapper asks. "There aren't any Decepticon ships scheduled to make another run here..." His grip on the whaling harpoon tightens. Perhaps Onslaught's heavy duty security was justified after all. With luck this is just a passing human civilian ship that won't detect them. If they /aren't/ lucky... Scrapper already knows in his fuel pump that they aren't lucky, and that either the EDC or Autobots must be moving against them. With the covert installation suddenly no longer covert, it is only a matter of time before the place is destroyed. The best hope now is to hold off the attackers until a proper evacuation can be conducted. "They probably found us because fleshlings were nosing around," he snaps nervously. "That's always how it seems to happen." Scrapper holds his harpoon in one hand and draws his pistol with his other. Battlestation traverses his main cannon to take careful aim at the main entrance to the facility. He adjusts his aim by a few degrees, zeroing in on what looks like the weakest point on the doors...and then he instead opens fire with all of his other weapons systems, sending a huge barrage of brightly glowing incendiary shells, tapered armor-piercing autocannon rounds, and streams of thick, blunt explosive shells thundering out in a massive storm of firepower aimed to spread damage over this entire side of the Decepticon facility. From Autobot Shuttle , "I've got it," Red Alert acknowledges, fingers aready flying over the equiupment to try to take evasive manauvers. He may not be at Blaster's level, but he can hear the radiowaves, too. "We may want to bring her down and take the fight outside. If this shuttle gets damaged, we're going to have a hard time getting home." A narrow beam of energy streaks up from Shockwave's position at the door of one of the domes towards the shuttle, punctuating Red Alert's excellent argument. Shockwave strikes Autobot Shuttle with Infrared. Well, if Sixshot didn't notice the sudden appearance of a minature base, or an Autobot shuttle, then by all the nine slaggin' hells, he'd notice the unanticipated flash of light and radio chatter across the broadband. His engines flared brighter as he pushed their dials past scout mode, rocketing foward towards the commotion and immeadiately recognising the Technobot leader. <> Not that he was hoping their base would be attacked or mauled or anything. On purpose. <> Several strafes of concussive blasts pocked through the dusty moon surface on their way towards the Autobot. Sixshot strikes you with Concussion Blaster < medium level > for 9 points of damage. Sweepcraft immediately starts towards the Autobot shuttle, coming in for an attack run. << I shall smite them from the sky! >> he shortranges in fury. Sunder strikes Autobot Shuttle with disruptor. Onslaught transforms himself into his third mode once he has cleared the entrance as he turns his barrels toward the approaching Autobot shuttle. To his right the soldiers are moving about quickly and purposefully as the shots from Scattershot collide against the steel of the domes but do little then scorch the steel and cause some of the plates to crack. At the moment, however, Onslaught is concerned with other things as Onslaught targets the engines of the Autobot shuttle and opens fire with a rapid fire burst of his lasers. Deciding to bring some heat to this BBQ Onslaught transforms into his missile truck mode. Onslaught transforms into his vehicle mode but, not content with stopping there, smoothly alters his second mode to become his own artillery park. Onslaught strikes Autobot Shuttle with Big Bright Blast. Nightbeat says, "Get us down for a landing. I'm going out for a stroll." From Autobot Shuttle , Blaster grins at Red Alert. It's the grin of a man who is fairly certain he's coming home tonight in pieces. "Hey, with two doses of certifiable crazy riding backseat and an army full of awful aiming at us, I have no doubt that we will survive this night with no complaints whatsoever!" Gallows humor. "Weaponsfire on the radar! Time to rock that rhyme right on time, Red!" Blaster says, "I knew you were into troublesome gals, 'beat, but lemmetellya.." Blaster says, "Bobby H was right! THIS moon's a REAL harsh mistress!" Afterburner leaves the Autobot Shuttle . Afterburner has arrived. Strafe leaves the Autobot Shuttle . Strafe has arrived. Afterburner runs his way out of the shuttle carrying a blade instead of his sonic gun......though he runs out, he doesn't go after anyone. From Autobot Shuttle , Blaster watches Afterburner run right out, knife in hand. He looks back to Nightbeat, confused. ".. can Technobots fly?" Strafe arughs and says, "I can't stand it anymore! I'll see you on the ground." He runs over to the red switch and main doors, just as Sunder takes a pot shot at the shuttle. He glares at the door as he hits the switch and watches the door sliding downward allowing the rush of space to enter...or exit. Just as Onslaught nails the shuttle though, it's enough of a jolt that sends Strafe tumbling out, "GOD DAMN IIIIIIIIIIIT!" Though it's really not much of a fall, just a gentle glide. Straightening himself he says, "Now you're all mine!" He transforms and switches over to his solid rocket boosters, which gives him some nice propulsion at a cost of the amount of time he has. They're boosters and not designed to be used all the time. The now technofighter wheels around and opens fire with several blasts from his cones of heat at the sweep who decided it would be cute to pop off a few shots at the shuttle. Strafe folds and compacts his body forming a technofighter. Strafe misses Sweepcraft with its laser attack. From Autobot Shuttle , Despite the advanced warning, Red Alert is unable to pilot out of the way of the blasts. The shuttle is large and clumsy, after all. The shuttle rocks as he brings it in for a landing, attempting to move it behind the cover of a crater's lip. "We're down," he announces. Then he draws his own weapon and darts out of his seat towards the exit. Red Alert leaves the Autobot Shuttle . Red Alert has arrived. From Autobot Shuttle , Nightbeat drops the glare at Blaster. They are being shot at, and there are more important things to deal with than the fact that Red Alert needs an introduction to a little thing called 'reality' and how it is where most people live. Nightbeat cracks his knuckles and stalks out of the shuttle. He'll show Red Alert 'useful'. Nightbeat leaves the Autobot Shuttle . Nightbeat has arrived. Battlestation ceases firing at the installation for now, and instead swivels his radar-like sensor array. Suddenly each Decepticon detects the telltale signal of a radar lock. They have a few seconds to react as he minutely adjusts the aim of the various weapons barrels adorning him, and then he opens fire again - this time in a quick barrage that sends a sustained burst of firepower at each Decepticon! Scattershot unleashes his area_ranged attack on Sixshot, Onslaught, Shockwave and Sunder, striking Sixshot, Sunder and Shockwave. From Autobot Shuttle , Blaster blinks. He is doing that a lot on this milk run. "I've greatly underestimated Red Alert's ability to land this bird.." Yet, his words fall on no ears! Everyone has already left. Blaster lifts his boxy shoulders in a shrug and reaches back to take out his lengthy weapon. "Sometimes, Electro Scrambler, I get the feeling you're the only one in the audience." Raising his gun up, Blaster chases after his friends. Blaster leaves the Autobot Shuttle . Blaster has arrived. Scrapper's own pistol blasts are added along with the firepower of Onslaught, Sunder, and Shockwave. Compared to them, though, it is a feeble assault. While not a terrible combatant by any means, heavy artillery and Scrapper do not belong in the same sentence. The Autobot shuttle lands, albeit damaged. Autobots pour out one by one, and Scrapper chooses his targets carefully even as he hides behind a defensive guard emplacement for partial cover. "Blaster... no, he's a badass," he mutters, refraining from shooting at the Cassettibot Commander. "Nightbeat? No... also badass." He refrains from shooting Nightbeat. "Red Alert.... ah, well, beggers can't be choosers." From this sniping position, Scrapper squeezes off a laser blast at the security chief. Scrapper strikes Red Alert with Laser Pistol - Low Setting. Deciding to bring some heat to this BBQ Onslaught transforms into his missile truck mode. Onslaught swiftly transforms as his early warning system picks up on the targeting system of Scattershot and and starts driving forward as fast as he can accelerate. He bumps across the uneven rocky ground, his turret making numerous corrections as he moves along, before he turns to aim his barrels in Scattershot's direction and opening fire. Onslaught strikes you with Firing Forward Batteries for 3 points of damage. Shockwave is forced back momentarily under cover as Scattershot cracks a few energy bolts off of the upper angles of his armor. <> he intones as he adjusts his cannon arm from infrared to ultraviolet and leans around the corner to return fire at Strafe. Is he covering for the Sweep? No, Shockwave knows that Strafe is just a hazard to everyone in his vicinity. Shockwave strikes Strafe with Ultraviolet. Whipping about back out of a tumbling barrel roll gone awry, Sixshot's hiss was largely left to the suffocating silence of the thin veil of space and atmosphere. Scattershot indeed lived up to his name, and whilst he wasn't heavily damaged, it was enough to push him to be as brutal as he could to the Technobot leader. No hesitation here, he knew that as an adversary, he couldn't be treated lightly. And so, all those guns? First thing on the menue, make it difficult for him to harass the rest of his comrades. <> Drawing in close after Onslaught added his own say, the sixchanger broke out of his aerial formation without braking. Caterpulted foward, his foot slammed into the ground with a shudder, craking the surface as he used his momentum to literally slingshot himself into the sitting base with one hellacious over the head /fist/. Sixshot reverts with a swift series of twists into a formidable robot. You evade Sixshot's Write-Off Punch attack. Sweepcraft is hit by Scattershot's scattered shot! The Sweep is enraged, but then an important target appears, coming out of the shuttle. Why, it's Blaster! That's an Autobot that Lord Galvatron specifically ordered terminated. So the Curious One engages his target, opening fire with his machine guns. Sunder strikes Blaster with ballistic. Red Alert charges out of the shuttle the moment he has it down, only to be shot in the shoulder by Scrapper. The security director is by no means the best combatant out here (in fact, he very well might be the worst), but he's got more... well, as much courage as he has smarts. He runs towards Scrapper in a zig-zagging pattern, firing off shots as he makes his approach. Red Alert strikes Scrapper with Handheld Pistol - Low. Nightbeat attempts to sneak off into the moonbase. Insofar as he is a bright blue car with flame designs, he is about as inconspicuous as Paris Hilton. All the same, someone has to make the attempt, and he's not in Intelligence for his brains. Oh wait, yes. Yes, he is. Shoot. Battlestation takes the stinging attacks, then flips into his own Robot mode. "This is gettin' us nowhere!" He complains, looking up at Sixshot and Sunder buzzing around and at the Decepticons arrayed against them. "Never thought I'd say this, but I think a situation like this calls for more than just shooting. It calls for...thinkin'! And when I say thinkin', what I actually mean is..." he grins in anticipation. "Computing." Strafe is even more a hazard to the autobots on the battlefield than decepticons at times. But this isn't going to be today. Today the catch phrase is 'Comprehend This...'. He takes the laser in one of the canard wings which blows off and spins away leaving a trail of smoke. But this is space and he really doesn't need it to fly. Even before Scattershot says it, he knows what is coming. It's a gestalt thing. Strafe transforms and lands next to the Scattershot base and wiggles a finger, "I HATE this, I know we need it...but I HATE THIS!" Leaping up into the air he transforms extending outwards with a large fist unfolding where his legs are locking together. It flexes open and curls slightly, as if waiting to grab the nearest thing to him. Flipping forward, Afterburner transforms into his rocketcycle mode and lands on his wheels. Scattershot shouts, "Technobots, MERGE to form Computron!" With a shudder of metal, the Technobots undergo a stunning transformation and combine into the mighty form of Computron! Computron has arrived. Computron strides in while making a series of computations. Stepping foot on the moon, Blaster realizes very suddenly that he is on unfamiliar ground! "Hey!" He exclaims as too bold of a step has him propelling forward, "Which toker-joker turned off the gravity!?" Unable to compensate for the vaccuum, he's a sitting duck for the Sweep blazing a path toward him. Blaster catches the spacefighter on the move and tries to move! Diving for cover means nothing -- he simply floats instead of hitting the ground and gets caught in the hail of gunfire! "Yeeow!" Blaster yelps as he reaches for his preforated back, clutching his wound with his fingers. "That hurt worse than Metallica's two-thousand-and-eight album!" He turns back, facing the oncoming Sweepcraft with a lofty raise of his Electro Scrambler. Behind the Sweep rises Computron, the Technobot Super-Warrior! "Hey, COMPUTRON!" Blaster shouts as loud as he can, using his knack with radio to extend the reach of his words. "..how about an assist!?" He pulls the trigger, firing back at Sunder! Blaster strikes Sweepcraft with his Electro Scrambler attack. Onslaught watches the Technobots suddenly form together to form the looming shape of Computron, halting his forward motion, as he raises his barrels toward the Technobolt gestalt. "The other Combaticons have to prepare for a breach of internal security, Shockwave. We will have to endure as best we can. All Decepticon units not already engaged, open fire on Computron! Aim for the legs!" He matches action to word as he blasts a brace of missiles toward Computron. Onslaught strikes you with AAAAHHH! for 17 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 87%, Remaining Armor 284******** Scrapper ducks behind the guard station. It consists of a waist high wall made up of advanced Cybertronian armour, meant to protect the defender. But Red Alert's movements leave parts of Scrapper exposed, and although the vast majority of return shots deflect harmlessly off the guard barrier, one inches past the edge and clips Scrapper's right arm, burning a whole in the lime green paint job. "Ah!" he startles, jerking his arm back. Maneuvering out from behind the barrier in order to give himself more mobility, Scrapper similarly approaches Red Alert, figuring he can best the security chief in a fist fight any day of the week. Even as he tries to blast Red Alert, the Technobots form up. "Oh no..." he says, starting to panic. "Shockwave! Onslaught! /Do something/! Do something so we win! AIMING FOR THE LEGS FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FOR US TO WIN!" Scrapper strikes Red Alert with Laser Pistol - Medium Setting. A numbing blast hits Sweepcraft and his systems shut down. The big blue soapdish floating in nearly-zero gravity, with no control at all, just drifting along. The Sweep is temporarily unconsious until his systems can boot back up. Well. Sixshot paused long enough to size up the rapidly combining gestalt with an unreadible expression on his face, but there may have been a frown behind his half-face plate. Hmph. Even he knew the odds of taking on Computron, and they were unfortunately out of his favour-- and quite possibly the rest of the Decepticons aswell if they couldn't rally well enough. Still, orders were orders, and Sixshot wouldn't high-tail it out of there like some seeker at the first sign of a challenge. Leaping foward, he shifted, hitting the ground with wheels and treds spinning as puffs of dust threw itself up about him. He blazed a trail after the gestalts legs, aiming to try and unsettle their balance long enough for someone else to get a shot in. Crumpling and folding inwards, Sixshot transforms into a compact ramming tank with paired guns. Sixshot strikes you with WHAM Bam for 10 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 84%, Remaining Armor 274******** Shockwave does not look or sound dismayed, but then he can't. << I am calculating. Onslaught, is your team unavailable to combine? We may need an alternate plan. What is your contingency for combiner assault? >> He adds his fire to Sixshot's, but as Scrapper knows well, just shooting it a lot is far from the best answer to a superwarrior. Shockwave strikes you with Microwave for 9 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 81%, Remaining Armor 265******** Red Alert is blasted backwards by Scrapper's shot, which knocks him off his feet. He starts to pull himself upright, then cringes at the racket caused by the combination. "Well that changes the situation considerably," he mutters. But at least the distraction provided by Computron should make it easier for Nightbeat to gather intel. Red Alert continues to do his part by keeping Scrapper occupied. Despite his earlier bickering, he understands the importance of any intel Nightbeat might gather. And if Nightbeat convienently fails to learn anything, well, that's telling, too. The security director doesn't rise all the way to his feet, and instead keeps one knee on the ground to steady his aim as he lifts his pistol and fires once more at Scrapper. Red Alert strikes Scrapper with Handheld Pistol - Medium. Computron merges from its constitutes parts. Scattershot, Afterburner, Nosecone, Strafe, and Lightspeed. Each connect with a bolt of energy surging through the superstructure. Then the head slides smoothly out with a bright glowing visor. Several plates on his chest flicker and process the battle taking all data and variables into account. Shockwave's shot lances out at the gestalt, but only causes cosmetic damage bouncing off the armor with a pew sound. He says, "Datum: Structures and shuttle activity detected on terran moon. Datum: Decepticon Shockwave, Decepticon Onslaught, Unidentified Decepticon Sweep, Decepticon Sixshot, Decepticon Scrapper. Conclusion: Staging operations on moon for decepticons. Base must be neutralized before reinforcements arrive." The missiles explode against the thick leg armor causing panels to warp and buckle enough to cause a dent despite the large boom. "Sonic amplifier will not work in airless environment. Reconfiguring weapon harmonics for airless environment." he echoes just as the tank slams into a foot, it digs into the dusty moon ground but stands fast. The gestalt swings around to face the meanest target here currently, Shockwave. A panel in his chest slides open and out pops a cannon with a disk at the end. Almost right away a large distortion fires outward towards Shockwave powerful enough to shatter stone and make a nice divot in the moon. You strike Shockwave with Sonics. Nightbeat seems to able to move about without too much resistance, due to Computron being fragging huge. The Decepticons are otherwise occupied. He stalks around the Moonbase, looking for a door of some sort. Finally, he draws his plasma blaster and fires at a wall, intent on making himself a brand spanking new door. He mutters to himself, "They said, 'Nightbeat, you're clever enough to learn lock-picking.' And I said, 'If I was clever, I wouldn't need to pick a lock.'" Blaster makes a face at the floating, inoperative Sweep. Right, he realizes. /Space/. "Now, as fun as it is playing 'try to fly straight after a blast from my Electro Scrambler'.. I just don't have the time to lollapalooza-gag while you just hang out!" Blaster raises a hand up, pressing an unseen button under the rim of the brow panel of his helmet. A red-rimmed blue visor slides out over his optics. Pressing one heavy step ahead, Blaster makes his mad charge for the aloft Sweepcraft. From beneath, Blaster thrusts his feet hard against the moon and hurls himself straight up for Sunder. He reaches out, clamping his hand around the curve of the Decepticon for a grip. With a squeeze, Blaster grunts and lifts himself up on top of the ship. His Electro Scrambler thrusts out, forcing the barrel into the mouth of the Sweepcraft's main/head cannon. "The cool points are out the window and you're all caught up in a head-game!" quips Blaster as he pulls the trigger, discharging his weapon into the Sweep. Blaster strikes Sweepcraft with Electro Scrambler. The Sweep reboots, and his systems come back on line just as Blaster's weapon nails him pointblank in the main turret. Transforming quickly, the savage Sweep bares his talons, and they drip with corrosive acid. Sunder is protected against it, but if it gets in Blaster's armor it will eat away at it inside and out. He glares angrily at his prey and lashes out quickly. Sunder shifts into his fearsome-looking robot mode. Sunder strikes Blaster with Acid Claws. Onslaught is apparently less inclined to resort to strategic thinking in the face of Computron's appearance even as Shockwave points out the obvious necessity of getting the rest of the Combaticons out there. "We must do what we can now, Shockwave. Once Computron falls the rest of the Autobots will be demoralized. Continue with your firing, all of you!" He himself opens fire again with a bright dual burst of plasma at the Technobot combiners' knee joint. Onslaught strikes you with Intensifying Forward Firepower for 8 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 78%, Remaining Armor 257******** BAWHAMM! The sonic pulse (which has been modified to work in space, good job on that one) shatters the metal plates around Shockwave and drives him backwards into the bulkhead. <> Nimbly taking to the air, he darted behind the gestalt, flying higher towards that busily calculating head of Computrons, intending to be more of a nuisance than inflicting heavy damage at this point. Given the chance, Sixshot would latch onto the vicinity of the gestalt's head...attempting to add a few new scratches and teeth holes to the armour. <> Falling foward onto all fours, Sixshot stands poised as a winged wolf, claws and teeth at the ready. Sixshot strikes you with Face-Hug...With Teeth for 1 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 78%, Remaining Armor 256******** Scrapper is panicking as a result of Computron being here. He can only pray that Shockwave and Onslaught pull off a miracle, or that Computron decides he isn't important enough to blow away. Having knocked Red Alert over, Scrapper is given a chance to bring his superior strength to bear. Red Alert's last ditch effort to snipe at him from his knee slams into the engineer's Constructicon-given hardened armour, but although it leaves a burn hole, it doesn't stop him. With Red Alert kneeling, this puts him at the right position for Scrapper to attempt to grab him. If he's successful, the Constructicon tries to hurl Red Alert towards Computron as hard as he can. "Hnnnnnngrah!" he grunts from the exertion. This certainly won't hurt Computron, might it might hurt Red Alert. Scrapper strikes Red Alert with Constructicon Brawling. Shockwave's internal reactor charges up to full power, control rods withdrawing as he pumps the capacitors to unleash a devastating blast of ionizing radiation. What is the most likely place for it to injure the combiner? He calculates. The face. Shockwave strikes you with Death Ray for 33 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 68%, Remaining Armor 223******** "Let me guess.." Blaster grunts as Sunder's talons clatter against his armor. "..you're not Scourge!" The close-quarters fight has him unable to pull his Electro Scrambler back and unload another shot. Perfect for staring down the Demon and making poor assumptions of its pedigree, "..and you haven't said a single word. Let me guess, you must be one of the drones! Well.." Blaster grits his teeth as he withdraws his arm, curling his fingers into a fist. "..here's something for your learning protocols!" He swings in, driving his knuckles into Sunder's face. Blaster strikes Sunder with Punch. Blaster says, "Hey Computron! Think you could unload that considerable amount of processing power on the base instead of the Decepticons? Y'know, to make staring at this ugly thing slightly more worthwhile!?" Nightbeat says, "Hey, I'm *over* there!" Red Alert says, "Then try /not/ to be over there for much longer!" Blaster says, "Hey! Insertion comes with risks, Nightbeat!" Nightbeat says, "That's why I always use protection, Blaster." Kingfisher Swoop says, ".........Heh." Nightbeat says, "I'm seeing weapons testing inside here. Handheld up to artillery-sized. The guards seem busy packing up the more portable items, and oh slag, that one's seen me!" Blaster says, "I got a bad notion about the motion of this ocean!" Damn it! Red Alert shouldn't have let himself get in that position! He's acting rashly, and it's resulting in his being injured! Red Alert is picked up and thrown into Computron's foot, which no doubt doesn't even ding the gestalt, but dents Red Alert's back badly. He scrambles out of the way of the giant, pretty badly damaged by this point. "You'll... have to... do better than... that, Decepticon," he says woosily before falling back to his knees. His pistol is missing, so he had one option left (besides running, of course): he fires a rocket back at Scrapper. Red Alert strikes Scrapper with Shoulder-Mounted Rocket. Computron's Strafe arm is covered in plasma explosions from Onslaught's weaponry, leaving it smoke covered before he shakes it free leaving bits of ablative armor flaking off to rain down upon anyone under him. Computron isn't so much worried about that, than Shockwave transforming. "Shockwave cannon, angle of attack .34 degrees off" and his words are drowned out by the roar of the death ray beam that engulfs his left shoulder and head. As the beam dissipates, it leaves the whole section smoking and sizzling. Computron says, "Chance of Computron failure with current strategy, 54.321. Reassessment of overall plan of attack commencing." As all his parts are reassessing the overall plan of attacking the cons first, Sixshot's beast mode bites down on him. Computron ignores it for now. "Continuing on present battle mode while reassessment computes." He drones out. Computron does however. You strike Onslaught with Acid Burn. You notice your Acid Burn attack once more taking effect against Onslaught. You notice your Acid Burn attack once more taking effect against Onslaught. Your Acid Burn attack against Onslaught wears off. Nightbeat is seen by one of the guards as he takes a quick peek inside the dome. A scattering of laserfire sends him running away, back towards the battle. Besides, if they're calling in Computron to act as artillery? It's time Nightbeat was not here. Sunder seems to allow the fist to strike his face. But there's a method to his madness. After he's hit, the Sweep bares his fangs and quickly snaps his jaws at the rapidly retreating fist. <> he shortranges. Suddenly the jaws go SNAP... Sunder strikes Blaster with bite. Onslaught retreats backward, his slower movement in vehicle mode making it impossible for him to avoid Computron's attack, which sprays across the upper half of his armor and his turrets. The acid eats away at metal and steel, eroding the upper part of the barrels, and making them too dangerous to fire. He then transforms into his robot mode, rifle at the ready, as he still moves backward toward the Conquest II. "There is no time for that, Shockwave...plans are already underway." Indeed this is true...at the far part of the space a row of shuttles stand, being loaded by the Decepticon gumbies, and each take off and begin to head for the outer reaches of the solar system. "All Decepticons, make your way back to the shuttle, but do not cease your firing!" By virtue of mechanical proccesses not entirely understood Onslaught shifts into his looming robot mode. "Ha!" Scrapper exclaims triumphantly as Red Alert flies and bounces off Computron's lower leg. "Looks like I've got the better... 'footing'... in this battle?" the Constructicon quips. Having thoroughly thrashed the Autobot security chief in the realm of snappy comebacks, Scrapper's overconfidence gets to him. He moves away from the rocket, diving as best he can, but isn't able to escape the blast radius. Moon dust is kicked up, obscuring the entire region as Scrapper rolls around on the ground. At least landing doesn't hurt thanks to the gravity, but several pieces of shrapnel have lodged themselves into his chest. Scrapper fires blindly in the direction that Red Alert was last. Unfortunately he can't see, and the shots go wide of the mark. As fate would have it, though, Computron isn't so lucky. Scrapper strikes you with Laser Pistol - Medium Setting for 1 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 68%, Remaining Armor 222******** Shockwave fires an attitudinal thruster and circles around Computron, targeting the Strafe arm with his electromagnetic beams, which seems to be a weak point. <> Shockwave strikes you with Gamma for 9 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 65%, Remaining Armor 213******** Ignored! How...well for Computron, Sixshot'd allow the exception this one time. The damage wrought on the armour was negligable, but then he never thought he'd cause much. Taking back to the air, he circled in a wide arc about the gestalt before streamlining back into his starfighter. Both concussion blasters were primed for assault, and he widened the distance as he let fly several volleys at the gestalt's right arm, watching with much lament the rest of the waiting targets. Launching upwards, Sixshot in a quick shuffle of parts changes into the form of a sleek star fighter. Sixshot strikes you with Concussion Blaster < medium level > for 1 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 65%, Remaining Armor 212******** SNAP! "YEEEEEOW!" Blaster shouts out as metal shards tear into the plating of the back of his hand, placing considerable pressure on the delicate servos beneath. He winces, cheeks puffed and stained in a look of pain just under the red rim of his extended visor. The Sweep's sudden move allows Blaster to dislodge his Electro Scrambler, the silver-lining in this wicked cloud! The pressure on his hand is intense -- the pain jolting through Blaster has his knee hinges knockin'. Blaster has to break free! The widened look on his optics through his visor is a sure sign that he realizes it -- it just might come at a price! With his hand still clenched around the handle of his Electro Scrambler, blaster hits the grey toggle on his torso labeled 'EJECT' in fading black letters. "..Say hello to my little friend!" Blaster's chest hinges open. From within, a black and grey miniature robot with gold details and a red face peeks out. Within his tiny hands is a rather oversized laser-edged saw. "For $200, this appendage in robot anatomy is a detailed plate of metal that closely resembles a human feature of the same name!" Rewind calls out as he swings the saw at Sunder, its laser-edged circular blade trying to slam into the Sweep's chin. Blaster makes a thoughtful look. "..What is a beard?" Blaster strikes Sunder with I Get By With A Lil' Help From My Friends!. Rewind stares up at Blaster, incredulously. "That's correct." Computron grunts in pain and annoyance to all who hit him. "Datum: Right shoulder and arm vulnerable to decepticon assault." Says Computron as he swings his other hand over to protect it. "Datum: Under assault from multiple vectors." Shockwave's blast slips in between the fingers and hits at exposed systems causing them to crackle and spark. "Conclusion: Reference: Xena warrior princess. Optional battle-cry: YIYIYII!! Calculating launch vectors and ricochet angles. Speed and force calculated. FIRE!" With his right arm covering the left shoulder, it opens up both tires of Afterburner. They launch off the arm and fire outward with spikes extending through the rubber. Each tire aims for the first one, then hit or not, they bounce off the ground, rocksor even autobots to make their way around pretty much taking a shot at everyone before eventually, nailing one more person each and landing back into place on the right shoulder of Computron. "Compute that." He intones. Computron unleashes his Earthquake Stomp attack on Blaster, Nightbeat, Red Alert, Sixshot, Onslaught, Shockwave, Scrapper and Sunder, striking Blaster, Onslaught, Scrapper, Sixshot, Sunder, Nightbeat and Shockwave. Red Alert can barely stand... so it's time to drive! He falls forward and transforms into a fire chief's Lambourghini (work that one out), which has the advantage of making sensors a bit /better/ for 'seeing' through smoke available. He starts rolling directly out of the dust, heading right for Nightbeat. Is he trying to cut off hs fellow Autobot? NO! He's actually trying to make sure the detective makes it back to the shuttle! He manages to avoid the... rubber... spikey... things? though it's a matter of sheer luck. Or maybe his tires grounded him or some such. Nightbeat says, "...Computron, don't you ever compute that again, you hear me?" Blaster says, "We're -so- having a talk with Rodimus if we ever make it back in one piece!" Red Alert says, "Really! Who's side /are/ you on?" Computron says, "Processing..." Computron says, "Processing..." Blaster says, "By the Primary Program itself! If Computron's lost it, we're sinkin' faster than Billie Meyers's career!" Computron says, "ANALYSIS COMPLETE. SOLUTION...AUTOBOT BLASTER AND RED ALERT...SHOULD DUCK." Onslaught is struck, unexpectedly, by a flying spike ridden tire which rolls across him and perforates his armor from top to bottom. Energon leaks from numerous holes, only a thin trickle from each, but enough to make it worrying for the Combaticon commander. He falls backward, sent skidding backward through the pale moon dust, but luckily he bonks into the underside of the shuttle. He slowly climbs to his feet, turning toward the shuttle, before keying open the door. Onslaught glances toward the base's landing area, seeing that only a few shuttles still remain, before he heaves himself inside the shuttle. <> Nightbeat gets run over by rubber spiky things. This is really extremely unpleasant! This is also kind of baffling, and if Nightbeat wasn't in so much pain, he would wonder why in the world Computron thought this was a good idea. He staggers off towards the Autobot shuttle, collapsing down into car mode. Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll. Nightbeat begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Sixshot, Shockwave, Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Shockwave also gets a spikey rubber tire bounced off of him, sending him tumbling for several seconds before he recovers his stability, transforms and hits the ground in a large cloud of dust rising from the surface to float away slowly in the low gravity. <> He makes his way to the shuttle while laying down a covering fire of microwave pulses against Computron. Shockwave strikes you with Gamma for 13 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 61%, Remaining Armor 199******** Sunder shortranges a yelp as the bottom half of his beard is sliced into! It also digs into his chin and neck quite a ways. And on top of it all, the attack by Computron puts him in very bad shape. He goes to find Scrapper and get some hasty field repairs. << If I am to continue in this fight, I need to be fixed >> he shortranges to the Constructicon Commander, as he makes his way towards him. Blaster says, "Computron might be the smartest of us all, but smarts amounts to a handful of transistors compared to common sense!" Nightbeat says, "There's wise, and there's Streetwise... and I don't mean the Protectobot." Sixshot was knocked from his flight path ever so rudely, tumbling backwards towards the moon's surface, only a sudden jolt to his engines caused him to surge back heavenward before what could have been a most painful crash. Not that being hit by a tyre from hell wasn't aggravating enough, the sixchanger by all means still had some fight in him. <> Back to business, he set off a few more blitzes of fire towards the gestalt, still keeping his distance...and interestingly enough, on the opposite side to where the base was. Sixshot strikes you with Concussion Blaster < high level > for 12 points of damage. ********Computron System Status: Damage Level 57%, Remaining Armor 187******** Scrapper seems to have broken off from Red Alert. He couldn't find the security director in all the kicked up moon dust, and as he wanders out of the cloud he doesn't immediately go after Red Alert just yet. He never gets the chance, either, as Computron launches as eries of spikes. With the perfect accuracy the Technobot Supreme is known for, one such spike is drilled into Scrapper's chest. He falls to his knees, stunned up until Sunder lands, snapping him out of his stupor. "Ugh... this... gah... you better make the most of this, Sweep," he growls, pulling out his laser screwdriver, "Because I have more important things I could be doing right now!" In such a short time, Scrapper can't do anything to the internal damage the Sweep is suffering from, but he can at least seal up several of the cracks in his armour. Scrapper jury-rigs Sunder, taking a few moments to patch up some damage. Blaster says, "Hey, Nightbeat!" Blaster says, "Roll down your window!" Nightbeat says, "...is my upholstry going to regret this?" Blaster says, "The Decepticons are bookin' .. and repairing! I'm callin' it quits after Computron went twit!" Nightbeat says, "Fine. Just doesn't let Foxfire out. I'm a strictly 'no pets' Porsche." Blaster says, "Hey, I'll put out if you don't make me get out!" Blaster says, ".. tunes, that is!" Porsche 959 rolls down his window, rather reluctantly, The moon is dusty! He shows some cushion, and his upholstry is really quite lavish, as would be expected of an expensive car - dark, well-oiled leather, and a beautiful sound system, with a datacard containing classic jazz tunes in the slot. "Hey, going off to get fixed up doesn't make you too legit to quit!" Blaster shouts as Sunder breaks away to get fixed up. Taking his chunk of award beard in his damaged hand, he offers Rewind a salute with the barrel of his Electro Scrambler. Just then, a particular blue Porsche with flames is heading up. Blaster waves him down with his Electro Scrambler. He leaps forward, transforming to shrink down and sail through Nightbeat's opened window. "C'mon, Nightbeat!" emits the stereo. "Car-chase city isn't the name of this game! Let's rock /and/ roll the hell outta here!" Nightbeat's made it away, and Blaster with him - time for Red Alert to do the same. He rolls up the shuttle ramp, transforming into a stumbling skid. He took a fair amount of damage - not crippling, but it's bad. As he stumbles towards his seat, he admits, "Maybe you'd better pilot on the way back, Nightbeat." Red Alert begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Porsche 959 , Sixshot, Shockwave, Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Computron is peppered and blasted again by Shockwave and a few hits from Onslaught for good measure. It's just then that the joint holding Strafe can't hold the connection anymore. The joint breaks and the white and red arm falls gently to the lunar floor with a poof of dust. While it's not enough to demerge Computron, who has much more willpower than most gestalts, he knows when he's at a disadvantage. "Datum: Damage estimate at 57% capacity. Datum: Fighting capacity at 46.56. Datum: Decepticon retreating with one moving away from dome at high velocity. Conclusion: Base is sacrificial pawn in Decepticon battle field plan. Suggestion: Autobots in full retreat as well. Move! Computron will provide cover." With his good Afterburner arm, he hefts a small hill out of the lunar ground, what once was a chunk of iron meteorite that survived impact to come to rest here. Now is being used as a huge bullet at Shockwave. The chunk of hill comes crashing down, with any luck, on Shockwave. Shockwave evades your Punch attack. Scrapper hooks his laser screwdriver back in and stares at the Autobots. He can't see Red Alert anymore, and he isn't sticking around to go searching for him. With Computron on the warpath, this can only go from bad to worse. The Decepticon evacuation plan, standard in its simplicity, is a go, and Scrapper transforms into payloader mode, rolling over the lunar terrain back towards the Decepticon shuttle. Scrapper transforms into a payloader. Scrapper begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Porsche 959 , Fire Chief's Lambourghini, Sixshot, Shockwave, Decepticon Shuttle , Sunder, Autobot Shuttle . Sunder is NOT a happy Sweep. No sooner is he jury-rigged for repairs, than he discovers that the Tape-bearing Autobot has gotten clean away, and with a piece of his beautiful beard to boot! <> the Sweep screams over broadband. Losing the bit of beard wasn't the only insult, however. Blaster was WANTED. And so was Nightbeat. Oh well, he'll have to get these two later. It's time to evacuate, as he can tell by Scrapper leaving the area. He transforms and heads off. Sunder begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Porsche 959 , Fire Chief's Lambourghini, Sixshot, Shockwave, Payloader , Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Shockwave transforms to fly away under his own power, much like Sixshot. A purple flare of light launches him away from the moon's surface and out towards space. Blaster transmits back to Sunder. Blaster can be spiteful. "<>" Shockwave begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Porsche 959 , Fire Chief's Lambourghini, Sixshot, Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Red Alert has left. Red Alert enters the Autobot Shuttle . As more transmissions come in on the progress of the Decepticon retreat, Sixshot, instead of persueing any further damage to the gestalt...opted to backoff. The sixchanger pointed his nose upwards, and peeled towards space and back, in an arc away from the Autobots and the base. Just following orders? Sixshot begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Computron separates into the individual Technobots. Afterburner has arrived. Strafe has arrived. Computron has left. Seeing that the decepticons are in full retreat at this point, the only logical course for Computron is to order a demerge. Strife, since he's already on the ground, transforms first, but isn't in very good shape. But forces the shock of demerging out of his system. "Oooh, see, I HATE when we do that." he says getting up. "Computron said we should bug out, let's run!" he says transforming into his jet mode and making a run for the border. Strafe begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Afterburner, Sixshot, Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Onslaught starts up the engines once everyone who is aboard needs to be aboard, shutting the main door, before taking off and following the departure path of the other departing shuttles. Anyone still on the ground will notice that this is well away from the site of the now deserted base the reason which will become clear soon. In response to a code Onslaught enters and transmits several large caches of explosives arm and almost immediately after detonate, sending metal shrapnel flying outward in all directions as the domes are shattered, before falling in on themselves in a pile of shredded steel. The Conquest II then flies away. Onslaught begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Strafe, Afterburner, Blaster, Porsche 959 , Sixshot, Shockwave, Payloader , Decepticon Shuttle , Sunder, Autobot Shuttle . "That? Was music to my audios, Red Alert," the Porsche fairly purrs. And you know what? Nightbeat is not into this whole 'honour' thing, so no, he's not going to go back and face Sunder. Instead, he transforms, Blaster somehow ending up in one of his hands, and he ducks into the shuttle, sprinting off to the pilot's chair. Nightbeat has left. Nightbeat enters the Autobot Shuttle . Boombox leaps out of Nightbeat's hand and transforms, taking a seat nearby! Blaster has left. Blaster enters the Autobot Shuttle . Afterburner is Computron's right arm.....and literally lands on his wheels as the big guy demerges. <> He transmits as his tires kick up a LOT of dust making his way for the shuttle. Afterburner begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Strafe, Sixshot, Decepticon Shuttle , Autobot Shuttle . Strafe has left. Strafe enters the Autobot Shuttle . Afterburner has left. Afterburner enters the Autobot Shuttle . Scattershot transforms into battlecruiser mode.